Who made you laugh the most when you were a kid? My childhood was full of VERY FUNNY cousins, Nancy Jean being one. Nancy is a few months older than me. When we were kids I didn't understand much about Down Syndrome. Mostly I just knew that Nancy loved music. She had a cool cassette tape player and kept us dancing all the time. She also had a deeply happy laugh. She called everybody "Turkey," until basically we were all calling each other "Turkey" all of the time. We laughed until our bellies ached, thinking ours was a special inside joke. In fact, Nancy has brought this kind of joy to many, many people during her 50+ years on Earth (she's still OLDER than me!).

OPARC is one of my favorite organizations working to support, employ and transform the lives of adults with disabilities. This year, I'm participating in OPARC's Virtual Turkey Trot in honor of my cousin, Nancy. As you can guess, COVID-19 has had a drastic impact on OPARC and its clients. Please consider helping Team Nancy Jean raise funds so that those with developmental and intellectual disabilities can continue becoming active, valued members of our communities. We are all in this together and we've got Nancy's playlist going. It's time to donate, Turkey!